Apparatus for mounting top rollers

ABSTRACT

A top roller for a drawing mechanism is mounted on a link at the end of a housing. A spring is mounted within the housing to press against the link. Cam means is provided to vary the spring rate of the spring to adjust the pressure on the roller.

1451 Mar. 27, 1973 iaies Patent 1191 Fuchs 15 1 APPARATUS FOR MOUNTING TOP ROLLERS [75] Inventor:

Franz Fuchs, Magstadt, Germany g 3,212,139 lO/l965 Schmideta1.............. Ass1gnee= Kugellflgel'fabflken Gesellschafi '9 2,955,330 111/1960 beschrflenkter ,Haftung, Schwem- 3,619,870 11/1971 Ookieta1......

furt. Germany 3,278,994

10/1966 Stahlecker et a1.

[22] Filed: Mar. 3, 1971 I Primary Examiner-Dorsey Newton [2]] Appl' 120535 Att0mey-Richard Low and Murray Schaffer ABSTRACT A top roller for a drawing mechanism is mounted on a [30] Foreign Application Priority Data Mar. 4, 1970 20 10 104.6

link at the end of a housing. A spring is mounted within the housing to press against the link. Cam

19/282 [51] Int. Cl. 5/50 mean is rovided to vary the spring rate of the spring 0f to adjust the pressure on the roller 12 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures PATEHTEDHARZYIUB SHEET 10F 4 FEM/Z FucH INVENTOR.

PATENIEDmzma SHEET 2 (IF 4 Z k 1 A 1 V F W \A W W v Y. B.

PATENTFDmanm SHEET 3 CF 4 INVENTOR.

SHEET 1, CF 4 WM 2 F0 c Hg INVENTOR. BY 7/6 7 I APPARATUS FOR MOUNTING TOP ROLLERS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to apparatus for adjustably mounting top rollers in the drawing mechanism of a spinning machine.

Unitary assemblies for the individual mounting of top rollers in pendulum carriers have been in common use for some time. They have an advantage over those earlier designs, as for example shown in US. Pat. No. 3,212,139, since they permit compact, easy installation of the top rollers and permit such rollers to be adjustably mounted with respect to the carrier. They also have the decided advantage of permitting ready and swift replacement of worn rollers.

Recent development in the design of spinning machines have led to the construction of machines which are capable of handling various kinds of natural fibers as well as any known synthetic fiber. The conventional unitary assemblies noted above have the disadvantage that it is not possible to adjust the pressure on the rollers to conform to the need of the particular raw materials being spun. Attempts were made to provide the conventional assembly with exterior adjustment mechanisms in the pendulum carrier itself. In this connection reference may be made for example to German Pat. Nos; 1,226,287 and 1,031,189. Reference may also be made to the following publication SKF Information for Spinning Plants No. 6.13 SKF Pendulum Carrier PK 220. These expedients are not wholy advantageous or satisfactory since in the two patents referred to adjustment was made between the carrier and all the assemblies located thereon in common, while in the publication referred to, adjustment was only possible through a complicated mechanism associated with the link in which the top rolleris journalled. The former devices didnot provide individual adjustability while the latter device could not be used for rear spring loaded assemblies.

It is the object of the present invention to provide apparatus for mounting top rollers which overcome the defects of the prior art.

It is another object of the present invention to provide apparatus for mounting top rollers in which the pressure of each individual roller can be independently adjusted.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a unitary assembly for mounting top roller which may be adjustably mounted in a carrier and which includes a spring, the spring rate of which may be adjustably varied without its removal from the apparatus.

It is another object of this invention to provide universal means for resiliently loading top rollers and for forming top roller assemblies suitable for all spinning machines.

These objects and other as well as numerous advantages of the present invention will be obvious from the following description of the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION According to the present invention there is provided apparatus for the adjustable mounting of top rollers comprising an elongated housing at one end of which is secured a pivotal link adapted to removably seat the top roller. An elongated compression spring is arranged in the housing with one of its ends abutting against the link to exert pressure thereon. Secured to the other end of the housing and in proximity with the other end of the spring is a cam having a plurality of faces adapted to selectively abut against the end of the spring to vary its compression. The cam extends outwardly of the housing so as to be readily manipulable to present the selected face into abutment.

In the preferred form the cam comprises a rotatable disk having a plurality of peripheral faces of different radial extent which respectively engage the spring. The disk is eccentrically mounted about a pin fixed to the housing transversely to the axis of the spring to thereby enable to loading on the spring to be varied.

A member is interposed between the cam or disk and the spring. The interposed member has laterally extending arms which engage within slots in the housing to prevent undue rotation, tilting, and canting of the member under movement of the cam.

A second member is interposed between the spring and the link to insure constant and fixed direction of spring attack on the link.

Full details of the present invention are described in the following specification and in the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS In the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of drawing mechanism embodying the top roller assembly of the present invention,

FIG. 2 is a side view of the top roller assembly employed in FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is an end view of the device shown in FIG. 2,

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 3,

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 2,

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line 66 of FIG. 2,

FIG. 7 is an expanded view of a portion of the upper interposed member shown in FIG. 2,

FIG. 8 is a view similar to that of FIG. 7 showing a modified version of the interposed member.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring initially to FIG. 1 there is seen a complete three roller, two belt pendulum drawing mechanism, generally referred to by the numeral 1. The mechanism comprises a carrier 2 having a frontally closed U- shaped cross section defining a downwardly open cavity surrounding, in the embodiment shown, three roller biasing support assemblies 3. The assemblies 3 are fastened at their upper ends to the carrier 2 so as to be longitudinally adjustable thereon. Generally one or more elongated slots are formed in the upper wall of the carrier 2 throughwhich screws for fastening the support elements 3 pass. At the lower end or frontal end of each support assembly 3 there is provided a pivotal link 4 having a saddle in which a top roller 5 is mounted. The top rollers 5 comprise a pair of cylindrical sections of relatively large diameter co-axially mounted on a common shaft as is also conventional.

The rear end of the carrier 2 is pivotally supported by a member 6 secured to the frame of the machine through a fixed shaft 7. The carrier 2 is pivoted by means of an operating lever 8 fixed to its upper wall, which itself is pivotally movable to expose the adjusting screws for longitudinally shifting the loading support assemblies 3. In operation the top rollers are adapted to abut against opposed bottom rollers 9 which are journalled on the machine frame via roller mounting bearings 10. The drawing area of the mechanism is defined by the common tangential plane between the rollers 5 and 9 through which fiber sliver (not shown) may be moved in the conventional manner. The preceding generally describes a pendulum drawing mechanism. Reference may be made to the aforementioned patents and publications for more specific details as may be required.

Turning to FIGS. 2 to 4 a more detailed view of the support assemblies in accordance with the present invention will be seen. Assembly 3 comprises a housing 13 of generally U-shaped cross section (FIG. 6) which is attached to the carrier 2 by means of a fastening screw or bolt 12 which is adjustably secured within an elongated slot 11 formed in the upper wall. A disk shaped eccentric cam' 14 having general peripheral controll surfaces of different shape and direction is located at the upper end of the assembly housing 13.

The control surfaces generally face away from the lower end of the assembly (link 4) and extend through the slot 11 to be accessible from above the carrier 2. The eccentric cam disk 14 abuts with a respective and selected one of its cam control surfaces with a generally T-shaped spring support 15 located over and extending within the upper end of a compression spring 16 which is axially mounted within the housing 13. The eccentric disk has a central bearing opening 17 through which a pin 18 passes; the pin 18 being mounted with its ends in the housing 13. The bearing opening 17 is substantially larger in diameter than the pin 18 and allows the disk cam to move radially. Moreover, the eccentric disk 14 is provided with one or more radial bores 19 formed through their control surfaces and into which adjusting rods (not shown) acting as levers may be inserted so as to permit the eccentric disk 14 to be rotated and in rotating varying the compression rate of the spring which it selectively depresses.

As seen in greater detail in FIGS. 5 to 8 the interposed spring support 15 is provided with lateral exten sions 20 integral with its upper surface and bent downwardly to be offset at an angle generally normal to or perpendicular to the plane of upper surface of spring support 15. The extensions 20 are guided in slots 21 formed in the walls of the housing 13. The edges of the extensions 20 are parallel and ride on the edges of slots 21 thus preventing the spring support 15 from rotating or tilting when the eccentric disk 14 is adjusted. This prevents the spring support 15 from assuming any position other than the desired one. Without the cooperating extensions 20 and guide 21 the support 15 might have a tendency to cant or tilt and subsequently bind itself frictionally against the walls of the housing 13, particularly during the initial setting of the disk 14 and before vibration of the machine could act to straighten it. Because it is preferable to choose a spring having a steep spring rate any canting or tilting would create an undesirable loading on the spring which if maintained would lead to distortions in the spun fiber. It is also preferable that the slots 21 be arranged parallel to the axis of the spring but, in side elevation above the horizontal plane passing through the central axis of the spring, as seen in FIGS. 2 and 4. By such arrangement the point of rotation or the tilting line of the spring support 15 is eccentric to or offset from the axis in which the extensions 20 are guided in slots 21.

The spring 16 extends axially through the housing 13 and is provided at its lowermost end with an interposed lower spring supporting member 22. The lower spring supporting member has a neck entering the spring 16 and a shoulder abutting its end. The frontal portion of the spring support 22 is domed or convexly arcuately shaped as seen in FIG. 4. The frontal portion of the support 22 cooperates with an abutting surface of the pivotal link 4. In the alternate embodiment seen in FIG. 7 a pin 23 extends transversely through the lower spring support 22. The pin 23 is arranged along an axis parallel to the pivot shaft 24 by which the link 4 is secured to the housing 13. The ends of the pin 23 are, however, guided within opposed parallel slots 25 which are formed in the oppositely facing lateral walls of the housing 13 (indicated by dotted lines in FIG. 7.) The slots 25 are angularly directed to the direction of the bias of spring 16 and will cause the support 22 to shift laterally as it moves axially. This has a particular advantage in that the point of attack of the force of spring 16 on the abutment surface of link 4 may be changed in such a manner that a pressure exerted on the upper roller 5, contrary to the bias of spring 16 at any given position of eccentric disk 14 remains constant, this constant force is independent of the position of the link 4, provided the link 4 remains within its range of operation.

In order to prevent the pivoting of link 4 beyond its range of operation with the result that the loading or biasing of spring 16 becomes virtually totally relaxed thereby permitting the lower support 22 to slide out of engagement with the abutment face of link 4 when the carrier 2 is rai sed, it is desirable to employ an abutment spring 26 mounted on the front or upper side of housing 13. The spring 26 is provided with lateral projections reaching behind the inwardly extending parts of link 4, as best seen in FIG. 3. In order further to prevent the top roller 5 from falling out of the saddle of link 4 when the carrier 2 is opened a rest spring 27 is provided. The rest spring 27 is looped about the pivot shaft 24 and extends between the cylinder sections of the roller 5 to hold the top roller firmly in the saddle. A small exertion of pressure on the spring 27 in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 4 will permit the removal of top roller 5 from the saddle. When the top roller 5 is set into its position the end of spring 27 which extends between the roller cylinder sections is pushed back by the shaft of the roller 5 until the top roller snaps into the saddle.

trally threaded bore for receiving the threaded screw member of the first part 28. The second part 29 moves in the manner of the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, however, when the part 28 is turned relative to the second part 29 the distance between the control surface of the eccentric disk 14 and the upper end of the spring 16 is varied. Thus the normal rate of spring 16 may be further adjusted to compensate for variances in manufacturing tolerances of the spring even without the use of the cam. This is advantageous since the springs 16 are normally chosen for their steep spring rate characteristics and leave little room for marginal tolerance.

Steel sheet is a suitable material for the link 4. Such material may be shaped and punched with a high degree of accuracy and finished to any desirable form. To insure low friction and good sliding movement of the convexly arcuate or domed frontal face of the lower spring support on the abuting member of the link 4 the link or face may also be made from a suitable plastic such a nylon.

From the foregoing description it will be obvious that the arrangement of the present invention provides simple means acting axially on the pressure or compression spring by which the spring rate may be varied and the pressure on the top roller adjusted. The cam or disk is a simple mechanism which in the present form extends through the slot by which the pendulum housing is itself mounted so that it can be readily manipulated without the need for disassembly of the entire mechanism or removal of the assembly from the carrier. The mounting of the disk on a fixed shaft whose diameter is significantly smaller than the bearing bore of the disk has another advantage in that it permits the rotation of the disk cam under resilient conditions which act as a self locking and stabilizing factor once the selected control surface is reached. Further movement required of the disk is significantly shortened since it is only necessary to turn a single corner to move from one control face to another. Furthermore, the interposed washer between the cam and the spring insures accurate, and virtually instantaneous response of the spring to movement by the control surface, particularly in the initial stages of adjustment. Functional malfunction, canting, and tilting is effectively avoided. The offset location of. the axis of the parallel extensions-is also effective in this regard.

it will thus be seen that there has been provided apparatus for mounting top rollers which overcome the defects of the prior art and which provide the advantages ennumerated as well as considerable number of the others. Various modifications and embodiments have been shown; others will be apparent to those skilled in this art. It is to be appreciated therefore that the present disclosure is to be taken as illustrative only and not limiting in any manner.

What is claimed:

1. Apparatus for adjustably mounting the top roller of a drawing mechanism of a spinning machine comprising an elongated housing, a link pivotally secured to one end of said housing to removably seat said top roller, an elongated compression spring axially arranged in said housing, one end of said spring abuting against said link, cam means mounted at the other end of said housing adjacent to the other end of said spring,

said cam means comprising a disk eccentrically rotatable about an axis transverse to the axis of said spring, said disk having a plurality of peripheral faces adapted to respectively abut against the end of said spring, said disk extending outwardly of a slot in said housing whereby the same may be manipulated to move a predetermined one of said faces against said spring to thereby adjust the compression rate thereof.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said disk is provided with a plurality of radial bores adapted to receive a lever whereby said disk may be rotated.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said disk has a transverse bearing bore mounted about a pin secured to said housing the radius of said bore being substantially larger than the radius of said pin.

4. The apparatus according to claim 1 including an upper spring support member interposed between said disk and said spring, said member having lateral extensions slidably engaged within elongated slots formed on the opposed lateral walls of said housing.

5. The apparatus according to claim wherein said extensions are elongated arms extending parallel to the longitudinal axis of the spring.

6. The apparatus according to claim 5 wherein the axis of the extensions is offset from the axis of the spring and arranged above a plane passing through the axis of said spring.

7. The apparatus according to claim 1 including a lower spring support member interposed between the link and the spring, said member having an arcuate frontal surface abutting said link.

8. The apparatus according to claim 7 wherein said lower spring support member is provided with a transverse pin arranged along an axis parallel to the pivotal axis of said link, the ends of said pin being retained in a groove formed in the lateral opposed walls of said housing and offset from the longitudinal axis at an angle sufficient to cause said spring to exert a force on said link at fixed position regardless of the pivoting of said link.

9. The apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said link is pivoted about a fixed axis secured transversely of said housing along its lower edge and has at least one inwardly directed flange, said apparatus includes a spring member having at least one lateral projection, said spring member being secured to the upper edge of said housing and said lateral projections extending behind said inwardly extending link flange.

10. The apparatus according to claim 7 wherein said interposed member is formed of a first rotating part having an obverse flat surface engaging said disk, and a reverse surface having a screw thereon, and a second non-rotating part including said lateral extensions, said second part havinga bore receiving said screw whereby the relative positions of said first and second parts may be varied.

11. The apparatus according to claim 1 including a spring for releasable holding of said top roller within said link.

12. A drawing mechanism for a spinning machine including a plurality of top rollers each mounted in accordance with claim' 1 on a common housing, said housing being mounted on the frame of said machine and being provided with a carrier pivotally covering said housing and associated bottom rollers adapted to cooperate with said top rollers to draw sliver therethrough.

UNT EB STATES PATENT @FFEQE @EWHQATE QT" @REQTWN Patent No. 3,722,036 Dated March 27 1973 Inventor(s) FUCHS, FRANZ It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

On the cover sheet {73] "Kugellagerfabriken Gesellschaft mit beschraenkter Haftung, Schweinfurt, Germany" should read -SKF Kugellagerfabriken Gesel lschaft mit beschrankter Haftung -r'- ,0

Signed and sealed thi s 25th 7 day of December 1973:.

(SEAL) Attest: EDWARD M. FLETCHERJR, RENE Da TEGTMEYER Attesting Officer Acting Commissioner of Patents FORM po'wso (w'ss) uscoMM-Dc e031 e-pes US GOVERNMENT PRINflNG OFFICE I969 0"356'334, 

1. Apparatus for adjustably mounting the top roller of a drawing mechanism of a spinning machine comprising an elongated housing, a link pivotally secured to one end of said housing to removably seat said top roller, an elongated compression spring axially arranged in said housing, one end of said spring abuting against said link, cam means mounted at the other end of said housing adjacent to the other end of said spring, said cam means comprising a disk eccentrically rotatable about an axis transverse to the axis of said spring, said disk having a plurality of peripheral faces adapted to respectively abut against the end of said spring, said disk extending outwardly of a slot in said housing whereby the same may be manipulated to move a predetermined one of said faces against said spring to thereby adjust the compression rate thereof.
 2. The apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said disk is provided with a plurality of radial bores adapted to receive a lever whereby said disk may be rotated.
 3. The apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said disk has a transverse bearing bore mounted about a pin secured to said housing the radius of said bore being substantially larger than the radius of said pin.
 4. The apparatus according to claim 1 including an upper spring support member interposed between said disk and said spring, said member having lateral extensions slidably engaged within elongated slots formed on the opposed lateral walls of said housing.
 5. The apparatus according to claim 4 wherein said extensions are elongated arms extending parallel to the longitudinal axis of the spring.
 6. The apparatus according to claim 5 wherein the axis of the extensions is offset from the axis of the spring and arranged above a plane passing through the axis of said spring.
 7. The apparatus according to claim 1 including a lower spring support member interposed between the link and the spring, said member having an arcuate frontal surface abutting said link.
 8. The apparatus according to claim 7 wherein said lower spring support member is provided with a transverse pin arranged along an axis parallel to the pivotal axis of said link, the ends of said pin being retained in a groove formed in the lateral opposed walls of said housing and offset from the longitudinal axis at an angle sufficient to cause said spring to exert a force on said link at fixed position regardless of the pivoting of said link.
 9. The apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said link is pivoted about a fixed axis secured transversely of said housing along its lower edge and has at least one inwardly directed flange, said apparatus includes a spring member having at least one lateral projection, said spring member being secured to the upper edge of said housing and said lateral projections extending behind said inwardly extending link flange.
 10. The apparatus according to claim 7 wherein said interposed member is formed of a first rotating part having an obverse flat surface engaging said disk, and a reverse surface having a screw thereon, and a second non-rotating part includiNg said lateral extensions, said second part having a bore receiving said screw whereby the relative positions of said first and second parts may be varied.
 11. The apparatus according to claim 1 including a spring for releasable holding of said top roller within said link.
 12. A drawing mechanism for a spinning machine including a plurality of top rollers each mounted in accordance with claim 1 on a common housing, said housing being mounted on the frame of said machine and being provided with a carrier pivotally covering said housing and associated bottom rollers adapted to cooperate with said top rollers to draw sliver therethrough. 